a medical librarian's adventures in evidence-based living

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Babies

June 10, 2012

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Oma & Poppy Pay a Visit

Practicing Those Spider-Man Moves

Eight busy days spent slacking in St. Louis with the Grands.

Well, I wasn't exactly slacking.

I was on the go from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm.

The Lab Rat & I were in St. Louis lending a helping hand to our DIL, while Son #1 was hard at work in a small Mayan village in Mexico for 10 days.

Bonus for us: 24/7 time with our just-turned-three-year-old grandson, and our eight-month old granddaughter.

Eight days without a minute of watching TV, reading the New York Times, catching up on my fave web sites, working on my computer, or listening to NPR. Well, almost no electronic device time.

What I discovered? I didn't miss it at all! I liked being disconnected from my computer. It's impossible to divide my attention between what's on the screen--and my grandkids. The news, the emails, the headlines would still be there (and they were) when I got home--but, grandkids grow up way too fast, and I didn't want to miss a minute of them.

Where did the time go?

Walks to the park and playground, swinging on swings, sliding down slides, snuggles, going on a treasure hunt, playing trucks, a trip to the pool, reading pirate books, plenty of diaper changes, trips to the grocery store, lots of time to talk to my DIL, laundry, bath times, bed times, dressing kids, drying tears, coaxing & cajoling a newbie three-year old, and feeding a baby & a toddler multiple meals & snacks every day.

Whew! It takes a lot of time.

I also had an unexpected opportunity to share my Centenarian Strategies presentation to many of the staff at the St. Louis Jewish Community Federation. Such an enthusiastic group--with lots of excellent, thoughtful questions. I really enjoyed sharing what I've learned with them, and I look forward to returning on a future visit to St. Louis.

The trip was delightful--and special--because of itsordinariness. It's tough living so far away from the Grands! I miss all the everyday ordinary stuff.

Can't wait until July when we all go to the beach for an extended family reunion!

A Week of St. Louie Eats

What a treat to have three plant-based cooks in the house. My DIL, the Lab Rat, & me. None of us wanted to spend too much time in the kitchen, so we kept it simple and aimed for kid-friendly. Well, good luck with that "kid-friendly" part. That was definitely a crap shoot. You just never know. And it changes from day-to-day.

Sometimes we picked a winner, sometimes not. No one is more food-fickle than a newbie-three-year-old. Getting them to taste a new brand of peanut butter, a different English muffin, or a new kind of hummus, can be a challenge, to put it mildly.

TIP from the Lab Rat: Just tell them that all the baseball, soccer, basketball players, and even the golfers, eat what you're about to feed them. That's why they're such superstars. At least it worked with the new brand of peanut butter & English muffins. Sometimes the Lab Rat is a genius!

My DIL chose this recipe from Peas and Thank You. Another easy-to-put-together recipe that she adapted by eliminating the oil and baking the falafel on parchment paper. She did use the small amount of tahini in the recipe. Cook's choice. She also used fresh dill, instead of dried, in her Tzatziki Sauce and she left out the Veganaise. The sauce is fabulous & we used the leftovers as a delicious salad dressing, a dip for baby carrots & on top of the Spicy Tempeh Tacos. The "little food critic" in the house refused to even taste the falafel--at least this time. More for us grown-ups.

Another DIL creation and the "food critic" in the house LOVED these. We suspect the taco shells might have had something to do with that. But, who cares?

*Cook's Notes: You can also use sprouted grain tortillas, or softened corn tortillas instead of fried shells--or try softening corn tortillas in the microwave & then baking them draped over the slats in the oven rack. No-fry taco shells!

These tacos are spicy, so decrease the chipotle if you like your tacos less spicy. Grating the tempeh is a genius idea for tacos!

My turn to cook--& I wanted something yummy for lunch. We didn't even bother offering this sophisticated salad to our resident "food critic". Didn't want to waste even a spoonful. I love Cathy Fisher's (Straight-Up Food) version of vegan mayonnaise--and I think it will work well on all kinds of pasta or slaw dishes.

Cook's Notes: I omitted the onion. Fresh dill would be a great herb option, as a switch from basil. Perhaps, capers or dill seed, too? I used 2 teaspoons of kelp granules (not 1)--available at Whole Foods or health food stores. I used Sea Seasonings Organic Kelp Granules from Maine and I added a touch of salt to my Tu-No. Loved the avocado with the Tu-No Salad.

The DIL adapted this OMG-sophisticated soup from Quick-Fix Vegan. This was better than anything I've ever had in a restaurant! She roasted the cauliflower "rice" without a drop of oil, on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. I can see making a bigger batch of the "rice" to sprinkle on salads--like croutons. It's fabulous--sprinkled lightly with freshly ground pepper & salt as it roasts. This recipe uses my version of "no-fat" coconut milk, which is made with 1 1/2 cups of soy milk (not low-fat) and 1 1/2 teaspoons of coconut extract. Enjoy. Not so fast--but, so worth it!

My DIL suggested I make this for dinner on one of the days she went to work. All the ingredients were already in the house--and she knew it was quick & easy. What we were aiming for. I ditched the oil, fiddled with the spices a bit, & added half of a jalapeno & some lime. The recipe uses a cup of salsa, which is an easy way to kick up the flavor!

My DIL & I both LOVE OUR CHOCOLATE! We made this quick-fix recipe twice. It's that good! We enjoyed it for breakfast. As a snack. And for dessert. Even Little Miss Bean (the 8 month-old) gobbled it up.

The DIL whipped this up in a flash. And we ate it up just as fast. We're both suckers for healthy chocolate treats--and cannelini beans, dates & cocoa will do the job for any chocoholic! The DIL makes her chocolate hummus without the stevia--and just adds an extra date. This makes the best post-work-out snack, too.

Neither the Lab Rat, nor the "food critic" were interested in trying these delicious bars. Who knows why? But, my grandson certainly enjoyed making them--and when he grows up he wants to be "a cooker"! The DIL & I LOVED these bars--and the flavor improves overnight--so hold-off eating them until morning. It's such an easy take-along breakfast that includes oatmeal, blueberries, chia, banana, a little maple syrup, & flax. That's it.

Cook's Notes: This isn't very sweet, which is just fine with me & it makes an easy portable breakfast. I topped mine with walnuts, because I LOVE walnuts!. If you want it sweeter, consider adding some stevia, or more maple syrup.

I wanted steel-cut oats for breakfast one morning, and the pantry was fresh out of any dried fruit. Hmm. What to do? Bingo! I chopped up 4-5 juicy pitted Medjool dates, smashed up a very ripe banana, & mixed them in a pot with 1 cup of steel-cut oats, some raisins, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 3 cups of enriched soymilk. I like to make my oatmeal with enriched soymilk, instead of water, because I want the extra protein, the calcium, & all the other vitamins & minerals it comes with.

We all LOVED this oatmeal--which makes enough for 4. Honestly, it tastes just like banana bread. You could even eat it for a snack or for dessert.

Cook's Notes: This recipe is a WINNER! Both my son & DIL said, "This is the best dish you have ever made!" And they really like my cooking. Both my sister & sister-in-law texted me with, "OMG! This is amazing!" after they made it. I've already made it three times and, trust me, it will satisfy any die-hard omnivore's tastes. TIP: You'll need more salsa verde than the recipe calls for! Buy 2-16 ounce jars (not 8 ounce jars)! I used all the corn tortillas in the package.

The Lat Rat & I LOVED this restaurant! And I definitely plan to go back. It's fresh, unique, so delicious, & the presentation is spectacular, don't you think? The owner follows Dr. Joel Fuhrman's diet plan, and although I didn't ask her, I'm guessing there wasn't any oil added to these dishes. Nuts, avocados, seeds, yes! We also scarfed down a delicious, albeit pricey, Banana Maca Cappucino "Milk" Shake. Oh, baby, was that good!

December 06, 2011

If you do not see the Temper Tantrum video on your screen, click here.

"The trick is to get the child past the peaks of anger. Once you do that, what's left is the sadness, and sad children reach out for comfort.

The quickest way past the anger--is to do nothing.

Don't shout, don't hit, don't try to comfort the child. But, when a child is screaming it's hard to do nothing.

[W}hen children are at the peak of anger and they're screaming and they're kicking, probably asking questions might prolong that period of anger.

When I'm advising people about anger I say, 'There's an anger trap. Even asking questions can prolong the anger--and the tantrum.'

It's difficult for them to process information--they're overwhelmed. And to respond to a question that the parent is asking them may be just adding more information into the system than they can really cope with.

Would I be so ga-ga about research on tantrums if I weren't a grandparent--and dealt with a few toddler melt-downs myself? Probably not!

But, you don't have to be a parent or a grandparent to experience the "horror show" of a full-blown temper tantrum. Think grocery store lines, airplanes, or restaurants.

It's happened to all of us--and it can make us feel as helpless as the screaming & kicking child who's having the tantrum. And by the way--all kids have tantrums.

"Small kids just have tantrums. Some have lots of them. Tantrums may be traumatic for parents, but they're mostly normal behavior. So science hasn't paid much attention to them--until now." (NPR)

But, if psychologists Potegal & Green are right--and I sure hope they are--there's both parental power & a sense of control when you know that all tantrums follow the same pattern--and if you know exactly when to ignore them, and when to intervene--a tanturm becomes easier to endure.

"[W]hen looked at scientifically, tantrums are no different than thunderstorms or other natural phenomena. Studying them as scientific subjects, rather than experiencing them like parents can cause the tantrums to stop feeling traumatic and even become interesting." (NPR) Really????

My Temper Tantrum "Ah Ha" Moment!

When I heard the NPR story yesterday morning I had an AH HA moment!

Isn't a toddler's temper tantrum something we can all relate to?

When we're REALLY REALLY UPSET or REALLY REALLY ANGRY (of course, I never am) we just want to have our say--and have someone listen to it--and not interrupt us.

We don't want anyone to shut us up.

We don't want any sympathetic coddling.

We don't want to hear anyone's advice or solution to our problem.

We don't want to hear logic.

We don't want to be comforted.

We just want to be heard, to vent, & release anger & frustration

Only when we get our proper say, are we ready for hugs, comfort, & to listen to reason.

BTW--it only took me about 30 years of marriage to learn to just close my mouth & listen when my husband was having the equivalent of a grown-up's temper tantrum. Plenty of time to talk & comfort after he's had a chance to vent!

Thanks to Michael Potegal of the University of Minnesota, & James Green of the University of Connecticut, who studied & recorded over one hundred temper tantrums--there just may be an easy technique for dealing with the terrible two's & meltdowns.

How crazy is this? Potegal & Green devised a onesie with a wireless microphone. Then they convinced parents to put the onesie on their kids--& hit the GO button, so they could record all that tantrum screaming, crying, wailing, & whining.

Potegal & Green say most temper tantrums follow the same pattern--the build up is quite quick--to a peak of anger--but then the child exhausts himself & what's left is a child who wants to be comforted.

The Play-By-Play Analysis of a Tantrum

NPR: (commenting on the video) It looks like the tantrum is escalating. But, in fact, what the new theory suggests is exactly the opposite.

Green: (speaking about the child in the video) Once she's thrown herself on the floor and thrown something, or in this case, knocked the chair against the wall, we're probably on the down slope of this tantrum. She's spent a lot of energy; screaming, yelling and now doing these physical behaviors.

NPR: The scream was a peak. No one can stay that angry for long - it's exhausting. I asked Green what sounds he expected next from Katrina (the child in the video).

Green: Probably something...like crying or whining. There's been so much energy expended. The child knows that they've been out of control. That leads to a sense that they'd like some comfort from their parents.

NPR: This tantrum from scream to whimper took only a minute. But, Green & Potegal argue that no matter how long tantrums last or how often they occur, they follow the same pattern.

The Three Phases of a Tantrum

Phase I: Yelling & screaming. Associated with a high degree of anger. That's how tantrums start, especially if there's a goal the parent has in mind that's different from what the child has in mind.

Phase: 2: Physical actions. Throwing oneself on the floor or throwing something. This signals the downslope of the tantrum. The child has spent a lot of energy, screaming, yelling & physical behaviors.

Phase 3: Crying & whining. This signals the end of the tantrum--what we see after intense physical behaviors. And it can sometimes take only a minute to go from screaming to a whimper. Only now is the child ready to be comforted--and she's ready to listen to mom or dad.

But, no matter how long it takes, from start to finish, all tantrums follow the same pattern!

BPA is bad news. I'm not going to get into all the nasty details of how this endocrine disruptor can be damaging to pregnant women, fetuses, babies, & children--or how, as a hormone disruptor it's been linked to breast & prostate cancers, attention-deficit disorder, behavioral problems, & even diabetes.

That's all old news.

But, here's the new deal, you might have missed. BPA isn't just in plastic bottles--it's also in the linings of many cans--to prevent corrosion. In fact, until recently, it was found in the linings of practically all canned tomato products. That's now changed, because Muir Glen Organics recently started using BPA-free cans for its tomatoes. Learn more below.

Here's what my friend Fran recently sent me from 7 Foods Experts Won't Eat(and just so you know--Dr. Fredrick vom Saal is THE BPA expert in the US).

The Situation: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals.

“You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”

The Solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe’s and Pomi. (and Muir Glen tomatoes canned after 1/11)

Muir Glen Canned Tomatoes

Last Friday afternoon I waited on the phone for 45 minutes in order to talk to a Muir Glen customer service rep to find out if Muir Glen tomatoes are really BPA-Free.

To date, there is nothing on their label to indicate that they are BPA-free. So I wanted to hear it from a company representative.

Here's the scoop:

All Muir Glen tomatoes packaged since January 2011 are now in BPA-free cans.

The company won't put the BPA-free labels on their cans until all the old stock is off the shelf.

So, how will we know if our cans are BPA-free, until the new labeling goes into effect?

1. The lining will be orange, not white.

2. The expiration date will have a 2014 on it. But..most of my cans have an expiration date of Mar. 2013, & they've all been orange on the inside--which means they're BPA-Free. The 2014 date will give you 100% assurance that the can is BPA-free--but there are 2013 expiration-dated cans that are also BPA-free.

3. Here's another clue. If the can has a white-enameled lining with BPA, it will say so on the label, right near the nutrition facts. Something like: contains enameled lining.

Eden Brand Beans

All Eden Brand Beans come in BPA-free cans. Learn more about that here.

Tetra-Paks or Glass

All food packaged in glass containers or in Tetra-Paks do not have BPA. Some researchers have concerns about the linings of Tetra paks--but, I haven't seen any research on that subject.

On November 23, 2011, right before Thanksgiving, when millions of Americans were going to open up cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, green beans, Durkee's Onion Rings, pumpkin pie filling, & cranberry sauce---one of the top-dog medical journals, JAMA, busted canned soup for it's sky-high BPA levels. You can read a snippet of the article here.

But, hey, if you had read my Consumer Reports post on canned foods, none of this would have been a big surprise.

If you want a quick summary of the JAMA findings--head over to the New York Time's article written by Anahad O'Connor on November 22, 2011.

"People who ate one serving of canned food daily over the course of five days, the study found, had significantly elevated levels — more than a tenfold increase — of bisphenol-A, or BPA, a substance that lines most food and drink cans.

The new study, which was published [on November 23, 2011] in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first to measure the amounts that are ingested when people eat food that comes directly out of a can, in this case soup. The spike in BPA levels that the researchers recorded is one of the highest seen in any study.

“We cannot say from our research what the consequences are,” said Karin Michels, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and an author of the study.

“But the very high levels that we found are very surprising. We would have never expected a thousand-percent increase in their levels of BPA.”

Dr. Michels noted that all the participants were fed amounts of soup that were smaller than what people probably would consume on their own.

“One serving of soup is a not a lot,” she said. “They were actually telling us that that wasn’t even enough for their lunch.”

But she also pointed out that the findings were probably applicable to other canned goods, including soda and juices.

“The sodas are concerning, because some people have a habit of consuming a lot of them throughout the day,” she said. “My guess is that with other canned foods, you would see similar increases in bisphenol-A. But we only tested soups, so we wouldn’t be able to predict the absolute size of the increase.”

On Saturday, I worked all day--drove home, downed a quick bowl of soup, popped some popcorn in my hot-air popper to take to the theater--and headed out to see a movie. The plan was to see The Way, but it was sold-out.

We saw The Descendantsinstead. All four of us gave it a thumbs up. But, I still want to see The Way.

Here's how to make your own Barbecue Air-Popped Popcorn

Use a hot air-popcorn popper.

As the popcorn comes out, mist it with water (yes, it really works & it's not soggy) from a water spray bottle, and at the same time sprinkle on Bone Suckin' Sauce Seasoning & Rub (or the seasoning of your choice) It works a lot better than spraying the popcorn with cooking oil spray (which is what I used to do), with none of the fat! The water just evaporates on the hot popcorn.

My husband thinks it's unethical. After all--I do have to "sneak" it into the theater.

But, I say, it's not like I'd eat the theater's popcorn, if I didn't bring my own. Are you kidding?

A medium combo (cola & bag of popcorn) at Regal has 1,610 calories and 60 grams of saturated fat. That's roughly the saturated fat of a stick of butter and the calories of two sticks of butter. To get the low-down on fat & salt content of the movie popcorn you're cluelessly munching, click here.

Enjoy exactly where you are now--whatever your age or circumstances. It's OK to be young--and it's OK to be old.

And, if you're so lucky, enjoy the piles of dirty laundry gathering on the floor from the kids and grandkids and company when they come to visit & bring their messes!

-Dr. George Vaillant, the Grant Study's lead investigator for the last 42 years-

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By 2:30 pm on this post-Thanksgiving Sunday, the last of my kids had headed out the door for the long journey home. Car travel with the same challenges of everyday life. Constant rain. Terrible traffic. A fender bender. Crying, wet, & hungry children.

And my husband & I leisurely started the "Great Post-Holiday Clean-Up".

It's not often that I'm so deeply touched by (& actually remember) the lessons of a long-running sociological study--but the Grant Study is one that keeps echoing in my head. The picture of piles of shoes at the door & the piles of laundry in the basement is what does it for me. This past weekend was no exception.

"Is there a formula--some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation--for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age."

1. Age 25-35 is the toughest for virtually everyone. It's scary stuff--what will I amount to? But all you need is to give it time--things will work out! It's not about keeping up with the Joneses or how much money you're making. (H.L. I keep reminding my kids about this one!)

2. Emotional crises, pain & deprivation are "analogous" to the involuntary grace by which an oyster, coping with an irritating grain of sand, creates a pearl. Humans, too, when confronted with irritants, engage in unconscious but often creative behavior."

3. "Pessimists seemed to suffer physically in comparison with optimists--perhaps because they're less likely to connect with others or care for themselves."

4. Relationships Rule! "It is social aptitude, not intellectual brilliance or parental social class, that lead to successful aging." Warm connections are necessary--and it doesn't have to be from mom or dad--it can be with siblings, uncles, friends, or mentors.

5. Relationships at age 47 predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable, except defenses.

6. Good sibling relationships. Getting along with your brothers & sisters is especially powerful: 93% of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister when younger.

I planned to write all about "Feeding the Family for Five Days--the Winners & Losers in the Thanksgiving Food Fest". No worries, I haven't given up that plan. I still want to share the recipes that we liked best--and give you a "heads-up" on what needed improvement.

But, then I read David Brooks' column , "The Life Reports II", this morning--and I was on to a more important tack than food.

1. Beware of rumination. Steer clear of obsessively over-analyzing every emotion, relationship, slight, setback, or disappointment. Balanced thoughtful self-examination is a good thing. Rumination is not.

The ruminating essayists "often did not lead the happiest or most fulfilling lives. It’s not only that they were driven to introspection by bad events. Through self-obsession, they seemed to reinforce the very emotions, thoughts and habits they were trying to escape." (H.L. Very similar to #3 of the Grant Study lessons.)

2. Sometime Self-Deception is a good thing. Think of it as optimism. "Many of the most impressive people, on the other hand, were strategic self-deceivers. When something bad was done to them, they forgot it, forgave it or were grateful for it. When it comes to self-narratives, honesty may not be the best policy." (H.L. I'm a huge fan of looking for the silver-lining. Notice how similar this is to #2 in the Grant Study lessons?)

3. You can't control other people. One of Brooks' essayists, "David Leshan made an observation that was echoed by many: 'It took me twenty years of my fifty-year marriage to discover how unwise it was to attempt to remake my wife. ... I learned also that neither could I remake my friends or students.'" (H.L. Amen to David Leshan!)

4. Lean toward risk. "Many more seniors regret the risks they didn’t take than regret the ones they did." (H.L. I readily admit it. I'm risk-averse, but have to agree with this one. I've almost always been rewarded when I've taken a risk. Like in this post from 3 1/2 years ago: Worried, Nervous, Anxious, Afraid? Remember - Courage Comes With Practice!) "There's no doubt about it---Everything wonderful & memorable in my life has come when I pushed beyond my fears, covered my eyes, held my nose & took a leap. Well, on second thought, maybe not everything. A lot of good things have come because I'm sensible, not a risk-taker, and cautious. It's all about balance. Courage coupled with common-sense.)

5. Measure people by their growth rate, not by their talents. Live your life with relentless self-expansion. I like the sound of that! According to Brooks, "the best essays were written by people who made steady progress each decade." Who wants to reach their peak in high school or college? (H.L. I'm hoping I'll reach my stride by age 75.)

6. Be aware of the generational bias. This one didn't surprise me much. Most of Brooks' post-70-something essayists "had ambivalent attitudes toward their parents." It really was a different generation. "Many writers mentioned that given their own flaws, they are astounded that their kids turned out so well." (H.L. I agree with them--and many of my friends say the same about their kids.)

7. Work within institutions or crafts, not outside them. "For a time, our culture celebrated the rebel and the outsider. The most miserable of my correspondents fit this mold. They were forever in revolt against the world and ended up sourly achieving little."

8. It's too bad we have to make our most important decisions in our 20's, at the age when we're least qualified to do so. (H.L. No way around this one. In our 20's we often choose our career paths and our mates--decide where we'll live & whether or not to have children. Crazy! If only we knew then, what we know now--hindsight is 20-20. It's the luck of the draw at age twenty--my advice is to seek counsel from people who are wise, happy, honest, self-aware, & successful--and I mean "successful" in the broadest sense of the word.)

9. People get better at the art of living. "By their 60s many contributors found their zone. Metaphysics is dead; very few of the writers hewed to a specific theology or had any definite conception of a divine order, though vague but uplifting spiritual experiences pepper their reflections." (H.L. Exactly what we learned from the Grant Study. Between ages 50-75 Life Improves. Altruism & humor grow. The negative unhealthy behaviors start to diminish.)

10. Finding the balance between hard-earned realism, self-preservation, generosity, & being present for others in our life. Brooks is disturbed by the contradictory philosophies many essayists wrote about. "For example, we are told to live for others. But one savvy retiree writes, 'Don’t stay with people who, over time, grow apart from you. Move on. This means do what you think will make you feel okay — even if that makes others feel temporarily not okay.'” Is that selfishness, Brooks wonders. (H.L. I don't have a problem with these contradictions. Common sense & balance in all things! It's possible to hold 2 contradictory outlooks in your hand at the same time--and use them "as necessary". Isn't this the same sage advice of Hillel? If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?)

I'd love to hear your feedback on both the Grant Study Lessons, and Brooks' Life Reports II.

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Honestly, there are so many medical articles that are published every week, it's tough to choose the ones that really matter to our everyday lives.

After looking through last week's news--here are the stand-outs that IMHO are worth paying attention to. It's research you can put to use, right now. I know I'm going to!

Bad News: The High-Sodium Low-Potassium Diet = Processed & Fast Foods

Good News: The Low Sodium-High Potassium Diet = Whole Real Foods

1. Here's what you need to know: If you eat a diet that's high in sodium, highly processed, and mostly comes from restaurants, your local grocery store deli or take-out counter or fast food joints, you significantly increase your chances of death, compared to those who eat a diet that's low in sodium, and high in fresh unprocessed food. Plain & simple! Doesn't it just make sense to eat lots of plants & cook your own food?

The Sodium-Potassium ratio matters! In a recently published research study, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the folks with the highest ratio of sodium to potassium had the highest risk of death from all causes, including heart disease. Who wants that?

Think of it this way: Sodium = processed food. Potassium = Fruits, Vegetables, & Unprocessed whole foods. It might not seem like a real news flash, but most U.S. adults get on average 3,300 milligrams of sodium a day--which is over twice the amount recommended. If you're over 50, you're only supposed to be consuming 1,500 milligrams of sodium. If you're under 50, your max is 2,300 milligrams of sodium. Note: 1 tsp. of table salt contains 2,200 mg of sodium

So where's all that sodium coming from? Restaurant foods, packaged foods, canned foods, cheese, processed meats, breads, soups, fast foods, and pastries--they all have a lot more sodium than potassium in them.

How much potassium are we supposed to be consuming a day? 4,700 milligrams a day. Honestly, it would be tough to get this much everyday if you didn't eat lots of fruits & vegetables. You can get your own potassium count on some of your favorite foods on the Nutrition Data site. But check out how easy it is to rack up the potassium milligrams on a plant-based diet:

Grand Total= a whopping 7025 mg of potassium (and this is just for starters)

No wonder the famous DASH Diet to stomp out high blood pressure recommends eating 8-10 servings of fruits & vegetables everyday. It's all that potassium, baby!

And the benefits of the DASH Diet have extended to preventing memory loss. Just check out the Cache County, Utah study where the results showed that those seniors who were closest in following the DASH diet, had the slowest decline in cognitive functioning--while the participants in the lowest quintiles had the most rapid decline in congnitive functioning.

Why is this study so important?

It's the first one to look at a nationally representative sample of Americans, and examine the association between mortality and how much potassium & sodium we are consuming. The researchers used top-notch statistics--analyzing the data from the the CDC's Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III)--which collected data about the nutritional & health status of 12,267 U.S. adults for 15 years, from 1988 to 2006.

What can we take home from this study?

The higher the sodium to potassium ratio, the higher the risk of cardovascular disease--and the higher the sodium intake, the higher the higher the risk of all-cause mortality.

Potassium increases should come from real food--not through supplements. Those with diabetes mellitus, renal failure, or heart failure, or taking certain medications are at risk of hyperkalemia when using potassium supplements. (Arch Intern Med 171(13);1191-1192, July 11, 2011)

The CDC says, "People who reduce their sodium consumption, increase their potassium consumption, or do both, benefit from improved blood pressure and reduce their risk for developing other serious health problems."

Read labels carefully--eat out with caution--chef's like their salt shakers. It makes food taste good! And you won't find nutritional labelling on restaurant menus.

Rip Esselstyn's Rule of Thumb: Limit the amount of sodium per serving to the number of calories per serving, or less. You'll be shocked when you carefully look at the sodium/calorie content of processed foods. It's not so easy to lower sodium.

From one of the study's authors, Dr. Elena V. Kuklina of the CDC:

"The major implications of our findings are that a diet balanced in both micronutrients (sodium & potassium) is important. People should try to reduce sodium in particular by consuming less processed food, but also they should increase potassium intake, and this is easily done by eating more fruit and vegetables and dairy products, which are a good source of potassium and low in sodium. This is nothing new: a healthy diet is good for your health.

We found that potassium does matter."

But, wait a second, I've got a question:

Is it really the sodium-potassium ratio that's responsible for such a positive health benefit in this study--or is potassium just a marker for a diet that's high in fresh vegetables and fruits--that brings with it a number of benefits, like vitamins, antioxidants, polyphenols, and fiber? Hmm!

"[O]ur findings, based on data from a large representative sample of US adults, showed that serum alpha-carotene concentrations were inversely associated with the risk of death from all causes, and death from cardiovascular diseases and cancer. These findings support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a means of preventing premature death."

If You're Over 60 You'll Need to Boost Your Weight-Training If You Want to Keep Your Muscles

Ernestine Shepherd, age 74--Holds the Guinness Book of World's Record for the Oldest Female Body-Builder (read more about Ernestine here)

The older you get--the harder you have to work. Sorry. That's just how it is. This article couldn't have come at a more perfect time for me--now that I've set up an appointment with a trainer to design an at-home routine I can do 2-3 times a week. My motivation is for bone health--but I won't turn down bigger muscles.

This is the first study to "suggest" that adults over age 60 need more weight-training sessions than 20-35 year olds need--if they want to maintain all their hard-won muscle mass gains they get from strength-training at the gym (or home). Once a week just won't cut it! If you cut back your weight-training to one day a week, your muscles will start to shrink. Sorry to break it to you.

20-35 year olds just don't have to work as hard. They can maintain their muscle mass gains with one day a week at the gym. They can even cut their repetitions down from 3 sets, to one set, strength-train only once a week--and still maintain their muscle mass.

The good news is that both young & old can maintain their muscle strength (not to be confused with muscle mass) with a once a week weight workout. But, strength isn't enough, if you want all the health benefits of resistance-training as you age. It pays to work out 2-3 times a week & build your muscle mass, too. It will help maintain your glucose balance, your fatty acid metabolism, as well as your bone & joint strength! Just do it!

How was the study designed?

31 adults were 60-75 years old. 39 adults were 20-25 years old. No one was obese, or had musculoskeletal problems. No one had resistance-training experience in the past 5 years.

Phase 2 Detraining/Maintenance Training-16 weeks: After the 16 weeks of muscle-building, the groups were divided into 3 groups. One group did no exercise at all. One group cut their training down to once a week, but still did the three sets of the three exercises. One group cut their training down to once a week, but only did one set of the three exercises.

How did the researchers measure muscle mass & muscle strength. To determine changes in muscle mass each subject had 4 muscle biopsies performed (ouch!)--baseline, after the training, after follow-up periods of 16 weeks, and 32 weeks. Each participant also had their muscle strength measured with load-lifting tests.

The study took place at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a joint effort of the Depts. of Physical Therapy, Surgery, Physiology & Biophysics, Geriatric Research, & the Birmingham VA Medical Center.

Bottom Line

For those over age 60, once-a-week strength-training will maintain muscle strength, but it will not maintain muscle size, once it has been achieved.

The researchers demonstrated that a once-a-week resistance-training workout can maintain muscle strength up to 8 months in young & older adults.

But, adults over age 60 need more frequent resistance-training workouts to maintain any muscle mass gains they achieve from weight-training.

"We are not advocating that people only train one day a week indefinitely, but we do believe such a program can be effective during temporary periods when it is difficult to maintain a consistent, intensive exercise regimen, several days per week."Lead author, Marcas M. Bamman, PhD.

Therefore, we recommend progressive resistance-training continue indefinitely for the health and functional status of all individuals."The authors

The Environmental Triggers of Autism

Graph: The prevalence of autism has increase dramatically in the last decade. (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

The causes of autism still remain a mystery. Is it genetic? Is it environmental? As the number of children with autism has increased in recent years, researchers can't pin down a single, clear cause.

Is it caused by parental age, prenatal viruses, infant vaccines, environmental toxins, or even a lack of vitamin D, as some researchers have suggested? Maybe there hasn't been an increase in cases at all. Some researchers suggest that the increase in numbers is just based on a loosening of the diagnostic criteria?

Back in 2008 I posted about the work of some of the country's top environmental researchers, who were betting that autism might be fueled by the endocrine disruptors that come from everyday chemicals.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) that was commonly found in moldable plastics & is still in the linings of cans, along with phthalates found in carpets & flame-retardants have been implicated. Click here for that post.

Since writing that post, many products made with BPA have been pulled off the market--substituted with other plastics. But are the BPA substitutes safe? If you have babies or children at home, or in your future, be sure to read what Dominique Browning has to say about the BPA substitutes in her recent New York Times Opinion piece: Hitting the Bottle

Two weeks ago, I was up early on a Saturday morning & caught an interview on National Public Radio's Living on Earth broadcast with Dr. Martha Herbert. She's a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and an expert in autism research.

GELLERMAN: So let's look at the methodology that the researchers used [in this study]- they studied twins.

HERBERT: Right.

GELLERMAN: Why?

HERBERT: Because twins are in the same family and they share at least some genes. But identical twins share all the genes and fraternal twins don’t share all the genes - they have maybe 50-50.

GELLERMAN: So if something shows up in the identical twins you’d say, ‘Ah, genetic.’ But, if something shows up in the fraternal twins, you’d say, ‘Mmm, there’s something else going on here.’

HERBERT: Yes, that’s what people have usually said.

GELLERMAN: So these researchers studied, what, about 192 pairs of twins?

HERBERT: Right.

GELLERMAN: What did they find?

HERBERT: They found that actually there was more concordance than expected in the fraternal twins, and less in the identical twins.

GELLERMAN: Concordance?

HERBERT: That means that if one is autistic, then the other is autistic. So usually it has been that 60-90 percent of the identical twins were both autistic, and 0-10 percent were both autistic if they were fraternal twins. And that led people to think that this was, by in large, very, very strongly, a genetic disorder. But to have there be so much match-concordance - in the fraternal twins, and not so much in the identical, suggests that there’s shared environment. What they calculated was that the risk for autism was 38 percent from genetics and 58 percent from the environment that the twins shared.

GELLERMAN: So it’s a very low number in terms of genetics and very high in terms of environmental issues.

HERBERT: Yes, which is really different from what everybody’s been saying up until now.

GELLERMAN: So what kind of environmental factors could we be talking about?

HERBERT: Well, there are lots of environmental factors that people have been talking about and trying to do research about. It ranges from chemicals to nutrition to exposures like to living near a freeway – many, many different types of factors.

GELLERMAN: Are there any suspects that perhaps stand out from the crowd?

HERBERT: There are a number of chemicals that it’s a good idea to watch out for.

Bisphenol - plasticizers that make plastics moldable.

Flame retardants - flame retardants in baby pajamas and in bedding that were not tested for the baby urinating in the bed, which then makes the chemicals float around in the air that the baby then breathes in.

Look under your sink and clean out a lot of the products, which have long lists of chemicals that you can’t pronounce.

There’s lots of ways of cleaning your house with simple products, with vinegar and water and baking soda, and things that are not going to cause problems, that may show up now or later.

GELLERMAN: How does this research help us, and what happens next in autism research?

HERBERT: I think this paper is fantastic for saying: ‘Lets pull out the stops and look at everything we possibly can - environmentally.’

We have been putting our eggs so much in the basket of genetics. I have a dear friend who is a geneticist who said, ‘Why don’t you environmental people wait for awhile, we’ll work out the genes and you can sort of do the trimmings.’

Now, looking back, this is not the trimmings. This is not the icing on the cake, it’s the cake.

March 11, 2011

How are we able to control the temptations that continually trip us up--or our impulsive actions?

How can we change our behavior?

"So, in seeing it differently the temptation is less. And the way we do that, as Aristotle understood years ago, is through habits.

We have habits of politeness. We have habits of self discipline. And you change your mind by changing your behavior.

Or as the Alcoholics Anonymous folks say, you fake it 'til you make it. And so by changing your behavior in small ways, that helps you control your impulses on the big things."

-David Brooks, interviewed by Diane Rehm on NPR about his newest book, The Social Animal, on Thursday, March 10, 2011-

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with links & comments

You're definintely going to think I'm crazy--but I love Thursdays.

6:30 am: Wake-up. It's my "sleep-in" day

9:00 am: Leave home

9:30-11:30 am: Spinning & yoga classes

Noon: Arrive at work

9:20 pm: Arrive back home

11:00 pm: Bedtime

Every single Thursday, I get to sleep in until 6:30 am, have a leisurely cup of coffee, eat breakfast, catch up on email, read the newspaper, catch up on household chores if I get ambitious--before I head out of the house at 9:00 am--and return home more than twelve hours later at around 9:20 pm. A jam-packed day.

Every week it's the same story. It never varies. Before I know it, it's already 8:15 am and I've got only 45 minutes to hurry up & get dressed in my gym clothes, pack a bag with my work clothes, mix up a Green Smoothie, pack my lunch and dinner--because I work late on Thursdays. Before work, I go to a spinning class, and then a yoga class. And on the way into work, I always get to listen to the last half-hour of NPR's Diane Rehm show. Every week. Same routine.

Do I ever just skip it all? Sometimes, when I'm so engrossed in what I'm doing at home, and the clock is inching closer & closer to my 9:00 am departure time, I think, "Why not just skip the work-out? Why not just skip packing my lunch, my dinner, or making that smoothie? Just pick up lunch & dinner at the cafeteria?"

Never happens. Why? Because, it's too much of a habit. Just like Aristotle said! And I look at the "temptation" to skip my work-out, or to buy my meals in the cafeteria a bit differently--"skipping & buying" is not such a great choice--it's just seems like the easier choice. I always, without fail, feel better after my work-outs. I feel better for the friends I get to see at the gym. And, buying my lunch & dinner, instead of packing them? No contest. Packing is always cheaper--tastier--healthier!

OK, just so you know--Discipline is not my middle name! By nature, I'm not the kind of person who would "love my Thursdays". Inside of me is a procrastinator who could easily lean toward lazy. That's why I am so amazed by the "Power of the Habit".

So What Does David Brooks Have to Do with My Thursdays?

I'm a David Brooks fan. I'm a Diane Rehm fan. And this Thursday Brooks & Rehm just came together and surprised me.

If it weren't for my Thursday schedule I wouldn't have had the opportunity to catch Brooks' interview on Diane Rehm's radio show.

When I heard him talk about how positive habits help overcome our impulses to do the easy thing, I definitely took notice. I thought, "I've got to dig up his exact words on that!"

The back story: In case you don't know, Brooks is a long-time New York Times columnist, with a more conservative moderate well-balanced outlook. For the past three years he's been working on his latest book, The Social Animal, because, as he describes it:

"Well, it started with my day job. I was trying to figure out, why do 30 percent of kids drop out of high school?

And when I went into that, I began to look at the first three years of life. And then, when I began looking there, I looked at a lot of the brain research and what I found when I began that, interviewing those people and reading all those books, was that they're giving us a different view of life, a different view of who we are.

And it answered a lot of problems, a lot of my political policy problems. Why do so many of our problems fail?"

So, yesterday morning, while I was in my "newspaper-reading" part of the morning I read Brooks' March 7, 2010 Op-Ed piece, "The New Humanism," which looks at our present political, financial, policy-making, and educational institutions through the lens of his research in the fields of science, medicine, and sociology. Here's what jumped out at me as I drank my coffee:

You get a different view of, say, human capital. Over the past few decades, we have tended to define human capital in the narrow way, emphasizing I.Q., degrees, and professional skills. Those are all important, obviously, but this research illuminates a range of deeper talents, which span reason and emotion and make a hash of both categories:

Attunement: the ability to enter other minds and learn what they have to offer.

Equipoise: the ability to serenely monitor the movements of one’s own mind and correct for biases and shortcomings.

Metis: the ability to see patterns in the world and derive a gist from complex situations.

Sympathy: the ability to fall into a rhythm with those around you and thrive in groups.

Limerence: This isn’t a talent as much as a motivation. The conscious mind hungers for money and success, but the unconscious mind hungers for those moments of transcendence when the skull line falls away and we are lost in love for another, the challenge of a task or the love of God. Some people seem to experience this drive more powerfully than others."

I don't know about you, but seeing those five qualities in black and white, inspires me--puts words to semi-formed concepts I've sometimes thought about--and it seems to me, we'd all be well-served to start working on these characteristics in ourselves!

Thusday Yoga Class - Why Would I Ever Want to Skip Yoga?

Once I started to make yoga a habit--making it a three-times-a-week practice instead of an occasional one--I started to really enjoy it. The habit, the regularity, made all the difference.

Now it's more effortless--the balancing poses, the muscular poses, the flexibility poses, the breathing, the slowing-down--it's all easier. I'm progressing. I notice the micro-improvements in my flexibilty & strength. It's actually amazing to me.

But the best part about Thursday is my teacher, Meghan. Anyone who listens to podcasts of Krista Tippett's American Public Medica radio show, "On Being" is someone I want to hang around with.

While we did warm-up poses yesterday, Meghan played this excerpt from Krista's March 3, 2010 interview with Seane Corn, a yoga teacher. Click here for the entire transcript, or to listen to the interview.

Ms. Tippett: Let's talk about what happens in yoga, whether it is relaxing or stimulating or, you know, more of a physical experience or more of a mystical experience. When you first start taking yoga classes, I mean, again, depending on the kind of class you're taking and the kind of teachers you have, you hear a lot about what's going on with your breath and your body, with your joints, with energy, with toxins. I mean, how do we know, what do we know about what yoga is doing, you know, really practically that is so unusual, that is unique and distinctive?

Ms. Corn: Well, there's two — let's stay on the physical for a moment in that any time you're moving, you're increasing the respiration and the circulation within your body. And that has an effect on your lymphatic system. The lymphae moving through your body more systematically helps to draw toxins out. So through …

Ms. Tippett: And do they measure that? Are there people who've measured this?

Ms. Corn: I'm sure.

Ms. Tippett: OK.

Ms. Corn: I'm sure. And it's not just with yoga; it's with any form of physical activity. So, just on a physiological level, you detox your body, you increase your flexibility and mobility, you create more space in your muscles and your joints and your bones, and you feel better.

And so what makes it unique, though, is by coupling it with deep and rhythmic breathing, it has an influence on the parasympathetic nervous system. It helps to align the mind and the body so that you stay calm and focused.

So it's physically stimulating but mentally grounding. So you walk out of a room feeling alive, but in your body and in your center. Not hyper, not depleted. So it becomes a meditation in action that has a very positive influence on your physical body, again, depending on whether it's a physical practice or a restorative practice.

As my yoga teacher so aptly said--orthopedic doctors will recommend yoga to benefit you bones & joints. The cardiologists will recommend it to reduce stress--and benefit your heart.

The Best of Brooks' on the Social Animal - The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement

Listen to Diane Rehm's entire interview with David Brooks or read the transcript here.

I love radio--but if I want to remember what was said--the written word wins, hands down. Here's my attempt to remember some of the best of Brooks' interview, culled from the transcript.

What's the Social Animal about?

For generations, American culture has celebrated the power of the individual. But recent brain research suggests the idea of community may be more important to humans than previously thought.

Simply put, we’re not rational animals, we’re social animals. David Brooks, New York Times columnist has spent three years culling research on sociology, neuroscience and philosophy to understand how emotions shape our lives.

He explored how these findings might change the way we see ourselves, conduct business, manage relationships, and practice politics. Brooks believes humans crave contact and community above all else.

The Strength of a Parent's Influence on Babies & Children

Why do we raise our kids the way we do, in such a shallow way? We're really good at coaching them to get good grades, but when it comes to things like character, we often have nothing to say.

Why are we so good at talking about rational things like economics and economic interests, but so bad at talking about emotion?

Andrew Meltzoff, a scientist at the University of Washington, leaned over a baby that was 43 minutes old and wagged his tongue at the baby and she wagged her tongue back. Even at that phenomenally early age, we're wired to interconnect one to another.

And really what babies are wired to do is invade our minds sort of and download what's happening. And that's a beautiful process. It's also a tough process. Moms lose on average 700 hours of sleep in that first year of a baby's life. They get interrupted on average every 20 seconds and so it's a very intimate connection, but it is out of that merger of minds that an individual emerges.

The importance of social connections to happiness & success

That's one of the big lessons here! We're really good at talking to our kids about SAT scores and IQ scores.

If you go into a kindergarten class ask kids this--who is friends with whom in that classroom? Some people are aware of friendship networks and those people have a social sense and they'll do very well in life.

One of the things we should really be cautious of is relying too much on e-mail--the research shows that so much of our real communication is face to face, it is verbal, that just e-mail doesn't spread communication very well.

One of the clear signs in the research is that the more you’re around people, the happier you're likely to be. Not only people that are alive, but even people who are dead,--some of us commune very well with writers who died hundreds of years ago. That's a real legitimate source of communion and sociability.

Why it's important to have people around you who disagree with you.

When you get into this research, you realize how little you know about yourself--and how complicated the world is.

And if you go with that sense of modesty, then you realize you need people who disagree with you to correct your own weaknesses and your own ignorance.

So you need the conversation. And there are a lot of people, I would say, on both sides who think that they know the truth--they know what we should do--and the people who disagree with them are just getting in the way. And let's just get them out of the way.

On the importance of laughter.

And one of the things I've learned is that laughter comes about when we establish a social connection. So researchers have studied when people are laughing.

It's very rarely in response to a joke. It's usually in response to when we're doing something in common together. And the people who do the laughing are usually those talking, not those listening. And they do it because they had attention in a relationship where they just found their asynchrony.

And that's how laughter flows. So laughter is a tool we use to bond ourselves together.

Why music, art, and sports are important to our children--and to our schools.

Yeah, well, we have a gigantic bias in our culture to overvalue – or to value – things that are conscious and seem hard and are measurable.

And I'm for those tests. I think we need some accountability but I'm also for the other stuff – the music, the art, the playtime.

And I'm for it for a number of reasons: one, the real key to wisdom is how do we educate our emotions?

People think, oh, our emotions are just our emotions. But, no, you educate your emotions by art, through literature, by moving with characters, by surrounding yourself with certain sorts of people and not other sorts of people. And that's how one's emotions get smarter.

And, then even more practically, I was with an educator recently and he said, if you want to know why kids stay in high school, it's the ABC's -- it's athletic, band and cheerleading.

And there are a lot of kids who are sort of on the margins of high school life, but that gives them meaning and that keeps them in school.

And, so, the art and the music is tremendously important for the fulfilled -- the really fulfilled individual. But some of the athletics and the other things are important because they keep people emotionally connected to the schools.

A Startle Test - A quick measure of someone's character.

There are a couple of practical things I mention in the book.

One of them I say if you're dating someone, one of the things you can do is startle them. And when you look at someone's startle response -- some people just get angry and they have certain temperament that gets them angry when the unexpected happens.

Some people laugh and think, oh, that's funny.

And so if you startle someone you can tell a lot about their temperament. And if somebody has a temperament that is naturally empathetic they're going to be more sensitive to others. That's not going to mean they're going to make bad decisions. I suspect they'll make better decisions.

Controlling impulses and "The Mischel Marshmallow Experiment"

Sam in Cleveland: "Regarding David's research please comment on our impulsive actions. There have been many times in my life when I consciously decide against performing a certain action because it doesn't make sense. Yet, I often find I end up performing the very same action that my conscious brain warned me not to perform. And I do not know why, and, often, regret it."

Brooks' answer: Yes. Oh, that's me in front of the refrigerator.

And so that's a sign of how our conscious mind can do things, but it can't control the very different complicated processes unconsciously.

And so there's a famous experiment, which I cite in the book, called the Marshmallow Experiment where a guy named Walter Mischel took four year olds, put them in a room, gave them a marshmallow and said, "I'm going to come back in ten minutes If you haven't eaten the marshmallow, I'll give you two."

And some kids can wait seven or eight or nine minutes or ten minutes or 12. And those kids 20 years later have much higher college completion rates, 30 years later much higher income.

Some kids just popped the marshmallow right in their mouth. They can't control their impulses and they have much higher drug and alcohol addiction problems later in life and are more likely to go jail.

And it's because some people have grown up in homes where actions lead to consequences. And they develop strategies to control their impulses. And the way they do it is not so much in exercising iron willpower. Four-year-olds really don't have that.

They learn to see the marshmallow differently. So some of the kids will say, oh, it's not a marshmallow. It's a cloud. Or they'll put a frame around the marshmallow. So in seeing it differently the temptation is less.

And the way we do that, as Aristotle understood years ago, is through habits.

We have habits of politeness. We have habits of self discipline. And you change your mind by changing your behavior.

Or as the Alcoholics Anonymous folks say, you fake it 'til you make it. And so by changing your behavior in small ways, that helps you control your impulses on the big things.

What really motivates people?

Bruce: My question centers around the concept of motivation, whether motivation is a combination of both rational thinking and emotion or one or the other.

I'm always amazed at people -- say take a Mother Teresa as an extreme example, perhaps -- someone who found the motivation to make incredible personal sacrifices over the course of her entire life doing work that very few people would want to do, whether they were paid of not.

And where does that -- that kind of motivation come from?

Or, you know, on the other end of the spectrum, perhaps, a guy who is motivated to get up at 5:00 in the morning, head down to Wall Street and work an 80-hour week in mergers and acquisitions or, you know, whatever it is, to build his own personal empire.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of people who are able to muster and sustain the kind of motivation to do extraordinary things, whether it's in the business field or, as they say, making tremendous personal sacrifices to serve humanity.

Brooks: Yeah. So, I think the conscious mind is motivated for success and status and the things we're aware of.

But, unconsciously, we're motivated by something that in the book, I call : Limerence.

It's the moment when the skull line disappears and you lost yourself in -- in a task or in something else, where you feel that moment of transcendence--you're not even aware of yourself.

And sometimes that happens while you're working and you're doing a good job. You're just so into the task you're lost in it.

A naturalist feels it out in the environment. Believers feel it when they feel lost in God's love.

And, I think, we're all motivated for those states, those moments when self consciousness fades away. And we're involved in something transcendent.

And, I think, that applies to people who are doing great selfless things like Mother Teresa.

I think it also applies to people, you know, who are writing software code or something. Sometimes doing something phenomenally difficult they get so lost in the task it's really a delicious feeling.

And for scholars, for example, there's a great book called, "Uncertainty." And it describes that moment when you've been struggling with a problem and, suddenly, the answer becomes clear to you. It wells up and you have it solved. And it's a moment of ecstasy. And some people, some scholars, chase that their whole lives.

Have habits worked in positive ways for you--helping you to regularly do something you'd otherwise skip?

Has anyone else found that yoga's benefits have increased as your days of practice have increased?

January 22, 2011

OK, all you grandparents, and future grandparents out there--here's what Dr. Tim Church wants you to know:

"To me, the most important element of exercise is healthy aging.

There's no pill that assures that you'll be able to play with your grandkids, or to go duck hunting when you want to go duck hunting (forget about duck hunting--insert your own physical hobby here), or get up and down the stairs safely.

But, there is one strategy which we know works great for aging, and that is being physically active and maintaining physical activity throughout a lifetime."

And then there's Bill Clinton. After his quadruple bypass & 2 stents failed, he went to Plan E (Esselstyn) and started eating an oil-free, plant-based diet in Spring 2010. What was his biggest motivator for staying healthy? To be around for his future grandchildren.

Click here to get to the web version if you've received this via email--better access to links & photos.

Which leads me to our wonderful week in St. Louis! 24/7 with "the little man". Playing, coloring, reading Sendak & Seuss a million times, bath-time, diaper changes, hide-and-seek, lots of ball playing, singing, swimming in the splash pool at the J, visiting "The Magic House"--St. Louis' AMAZING children's museum, cooking up a "plant-based" storm--and just enjoying the company of our kids.

Months ago when my husband & I learned that son #1 was going on a 9 day work-related trip to a small Mayan village in the Yucatan (originally it was Guatemala), we offered to lend a hand with "the little man". Yay! Offer gratefully accepted. Son #1 spent his week eating like a healthy Tarahumara Indian--beans, squash, & corn, while we ate plant-strong in the Loo.

But let's get back to Dr. Tim Church's advice about staying in shape so you can play with your grandkids, and be able to get up & down stairs safely--Believe him! About the grandkids & the stairs!

It's three flights of stairs to get to my kids' apartment. Up and down those stairs a million times, carrying the "little man", lots & lots of grocery bags, suitcases, gym bags, diaper bags, and a stroller! And that whole winter bundling up thing, with boots, hats & gloves, and car seats.

Good thing that my husband and I have been training years for this dream job! You better be steady on your feet to climb as many stairs as we had to climb, while carrying a wiggly toddler & parcels.

Imagine an entire week of just playing, reading kid books, toddler-tending, and cooking? Absolute heaven when you're a grandparent, not doing it day in & day out. No TV at the "little man's" house, either. And we hardly touched our computer. No time for me to read any grown-up stuff, either. It was living totally in the moment. I slept like a baby.

Darn! This grandma knows too much. Thanks to that big party pooper Dr. David Kessler, the author of "The End of Overeating", I know how important it is to keep sugar, fat, and salt away from the little guys. If you want the best for your grandkids, how can you feed them junk? It just doesn't feel right to get "the little man" started on chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and chips.

"We used to think of food as something we ate to fill us up. But in fact, much of the food we're eating--this trifecta of fat, sugar, and salt--stimulates us. And we now see from the science--this highly palatable food is excessively activating the neural circuitry of our brains. We now know...the reason we keep on eating is because of this sustained stimulation."

Worry about the children! Kids from ages 3-5 are eating constantly, all day. Fat, sugar, salt. "Once you lay down the neural circuitry that gets activated by highly palatable food--that stays down for life."

-Dr. David Kessler, pediatrician, former FDA commissioner, former dean of the Yale & UCSF medical schools-

It was Plant-Strong for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in the Loo

I packed 2 Sami's Pizza Crusts in my suitcase for dinner #1

Almost Instant Pizza made with Sami's Crusts

Ann Esselstyn introduced me to Sami's amazingly delicious Whole-Grain pizza crusts, and since I had a stash in my freezer, I packed 2 crusts carefully in my husband's suitcase--mine was too full, of course!

Here's the deal with Sami's. You have to plan ahead--the bakery is in Tampa, Florida, for goodness sakes. But, if you call them by Monday or Tuesday, you'll get them delivered to your door in 2 days--freshly baked. $4.09 for each pizza crust--minimum order of $25.00. There's no carry-out pizza place that delivers plant-strong pizza in my home town. Click here for order info. Click here for my Knock-You-Socks-Off Pizza Recipe. **I was surprised & happy to hear that my friend Cheri has been ordering from Sami's ever since I wrote about them in November.

You never know what kids are going to like--or hate--but I decided to make a Green Smoothie for "the little man", anyway. Oh baby--did he ever love it! Of course, it's too thick to come out of a sippy cup, so we had to put it in an Elmo cup with a wide straw, suck it up, to get it started for him--and just wait for those magic words, "Mo' joos, peez!"

Here's what "the little man" liked in his Green Smoothie: unsweetened grape juice or only-cherry juice, lots of lacinato kale & spinach, a couple of carrots, a big handful of Trader Joe's Frozen Very Cherry Berry Mix, an apple, and a couple of clementines. Add cold water & mix in the VitaMix. I thinned his with a little unsweetened only-cherry juice.

Can you think of an easier way to feed your grandkids vegetables & fruit? For more info, and the nutritional breakdown on my green smoothies, click here.

Thirty-Minute Rice with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Lemony-Tahini Sauce (you only need a little)

This is by now an old standby dinner for me. Everyone loves it! "Little man", my husband, son #2, my daughter-in-law, my friends, my co-workers, Mina and her family, Cheri & her family--and just about everyone who tastes it. It definitely needs the lemony-tahini sauce to make it extraordinary, but don't worry, just a little goes a long way, and it uses only 2 TBS of tahini for enough to feed 6. (next time I'm going to drain the oil from the tahini) For my enlightened version of this recipe, click here. For step-by-step pictures, click here.

We served ours with sauteed spinach.

Mark Bittman's Miso Soup with Bok Choy, Soba Noodles, & Grilled Tofu

Another easy breezy meal in a bowl. We served this with salad greens, cherry tomatoes, and red peppers, tossed with a dressing made with Hot Squeeze Sweet Heat Chipotle Sauce, thinned with some rice vinegar, and toasted sesame seeds. Hot Squeeze works as a fantastic tofu grilling sauce, too!

We had maple-soy oven-baked brussels sprouts on the side. For the Miso Soup recipe, click here.

I came up with this Esselstyn-approved version made with cocoa, "lite tofu", agave, cinnamon, and cayenne or chipotle pepper. It's a pretty good stand-in for Bittman's mousse. Picky son #2 & "the little man" both give it a rousing thumbs up! Believe them.

Serves 3-4

Ann Esselstyn says: Be sure to MAKE this serve 3 or 4. It is so good it is way too easy for it to serve just 1!

1 package "Lite" silken tofu (look for NaSoya brand if you want organic & non-GMO) I used Mori-Nu for this recipe.

1/3 cup agave (what I used), or maple syrup. I tried it with just stevia, to cut the sugar content--used 5 packets--and it tasted just fine. Full disclosure: Some folks have concerns with stevia, but I'm a fan of the SweetLeaf brand.

2 tablespoons high quality non-dutched cocoa powder

1 tsp. real vanilla

1 to 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

A pinch of cayenne or more--or 1/8 tsp. of chipotle powder if you like heat.

Blend until smooth. Use something powerful like a food processor or a blender. It didn't work with a hand mixer. Refrigerate 2 hours before use. Spoon into small bowls & use small spoons.

1 large cut-up frozen banana, 1 TBS non-Dutched cocoa, 1/2+ cup of oat, almond, soy, hazelnut milk. Whir it up in a VitaMix or a blender. It's a good idea to keep a stash of cut up frozen ripe bananas in the freezer for spur-of-the-moment "milkshakes" or soft-serves. Pack 1 sliced banana to a baggie for easy use.

You'll find the recipe for this All-American Chili with Lots of Kick That You Can Eat All Week Long, here. It's Les & Tess approved--and they have very discriminating palates.

True St. Louis confessions:

1. Ice Cream. We were all so good the entire week. When my daughter-in-law suggested we pick up a pint of Jeni's ice cream for Friday night dessert I wholeheartedly helped with the selection. We decided on Gravel Road--Savory and smoky hits of almonds first, rounded out with salty notes for a satisfying finish.

Bingo! Dr. David Kessler's ultimate evil trifecta--salt, sugar, & fat--in every spoonful. Thankfully, we only bought 1 pint--at $9.99 a pint--who could afford more? We saved a generous serving for "the little man's" dad, who was coming home in 2 days from the Yucatan, so that left about a 1/3 of a cup each for my husband, my daughter-in-law, Uncle Dan (aka son #2) and me. Zero for "the little man". I wish I could say it tasted too sweet, too rich, & too salty. I cannot tell a lie--it was fantastic!! Glad we only had enough for mini-servings. Eat at your own risk. I'm staying away in the future. Visit Jeni's here!

2. Pizza. We also visited son #2's favorite St. Louis restaurant one night--PI's Pizzeria. A favorite of President Obama's, too! We were all set to order the vegan thin crust with roasted red peppers, eggplant, onions, & portabello mushrooms--and hold the cheese. That is, until I noticed they had casein-free vegan Daiya cheese. Truthfully, I would NEVER use this at home (it's made with 6 grams of oil per serving), but, hey, it was a post-birthday celebration, we threw caution to the wind, and ordered it "with Daiya". Not as good as my cheese-free pizza! BTW, PI also has gluten-free crust! Visit PI here. Any restaurant that has vegan & gluten-free available is tops in my book!

The St. Louis Whole Foods Rocks!!

How many of you know that you can get deliciously-prepared vegan no-oil meals at Whole Foods? It was news to me--but then I never looked closely at their prepared foods section before.

Everyday Whole Foods has hot soups, hot meals, creative whole-grain &/or vegetable salads, as well as a good selection of take-home meals in their deli case that are completely Esselstyn & Engine 2 approved. No oil, no sugar, only whole grains, all real food.

So, if you're looking for someplace to meet a friend for lunch, head on over to your local Whole Foods. Too bad that every city's Whole Foods is different. The prep food selection in my home town isn't half as good as the one in the Loo. Go figure.

Here's what we feasted on for lunch. Warning: It doesn't come cheap. We spent $9.00 each, but our plates were loaded high.

Thank you Ann & Rip Esselstyn! My daughter-in-law had made plans to see Forks Over Knives with a friend, but the St. Louis January 18th preview sold-out early--before she could get her ticket. A big thank-you to Ann & Rip Esselstyn & the St. Louis Whole Foods (Marcia) for making it possible for my DIL to attend the film's preview It's powerful, she loved it, and she's rethinking dairy for "the little man", as well as ditching olive & cooking oils. This is a mind-changing movie--and if you miss the preview screenings, watch for its release in March. I can't wait to see it on the big screen next week. For my synopsis of the film, click here.

Soon after I took this pic I was heading back to the car to retrieve the diaper bag I had forgotten to bring into the library--Green Smoothies, Larabars, and Dr. Praeger Burgers keep this little guy pretty darn regular.

Morning at the Open Gym with Oma & Poppy

Pint-sized Play Pizzeria at "The Magic House"

I've Always Wanted to Try This!! The Magic House is for Kids of All Ages

That's My Husband Playing at the Magic House

And That's My Daughter-in-Law at the Magic House- We Did Not Want to Leave!

The Ambidextrous Artist Creating Uncle Dan's Special Birthday Card

A Little Snuggle at the Magic House

A Little Something to Eat After We Leave

Before we left St. Louis, I cooked up a batch of hearty burgers for the kids to stash in the fridge. Garbanzo beans, spinach, hot sauce, onions, chickpea flour, garlic and carrots. When we returned home on Saturday night, I decided to make up a batch for us, too. Topped with that lemony-tahini sauce--yum!

Stay tuned for this easy recipe sometime soon. Time to sign off, eat dinner, & go see The Way Back--I brought the book of the original story home from the library for my husband to read 2 weeks ago--it's right up his alley--and lo and behold--the movie version is opening here tonight! "Siberian gulag escapees walk 4000 miles overland to freedom in India." BTW--he loved the book. After you see this movie you will be sooo grateful for everything you have. Like water, food, heat, and a bed.

Much of the good in this world comes when ordinary people have the courage to do the right thing--in spite of the risks to their reputation or financial security. In spite of ridicule, dismissal, censure, or pressure from family & friends. It's so much easier to leave things as they are, and not make waves.

-This one's from me--based on the articles, movies, & even the cookbook author mentioned in this post-

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links.

I probably won't have much time to post over the next 10 days. I'm going to play & hang out with our gorgeous 19-month old "little man".

So, I'm leaving you with some homework to do while I'm gone.

I've got four articles for you to read. Two have certainly set my head spinning--and two have cleared things up nicely for me. Now I want to know what you think of them.

I'm also leaving you with four movies to see. All four are true stories about ordinary people who did what they knew was the right thing to do. It would have been a whole lot easier to sit back, stay at home, give up, or shut up. Oh, and I'm also giving you a link to some excellent thought-provoking movies for grown-ups. It's cold, the days are short--the perfect time for a delcious dinner & a movie night.

I've got a good recipe, too! A rib-sticking-nutritious-comfort soup based on a Mark Bittman creation.

All the articles--the movies--and even the recipe could be posts of their own. But, I've run out of time--got some grandson book shopping to do, plus some laundry, some packing, and a whole lot more..

The Homework Articles

The New York Times Interviews Dr. T. Colin Campbell--"Nutrition Advice from the China Study" 1/7/11. Click here for this quick read interview by NYT writer, Tara Parker-Pope.

Campbell's a man who has stellar academic & research credentials--but he's put them all on the line, risking censure & reputation--to speak out about the damaging toll our American diet is taking on our health. The U.S. meat & dairy boards wish he'd just shut up & go away.

"Six years ago a small Texas publisher released an obscure book written by a father-son research team. The work, based on a series of studies conducted in rural China and Taiwan, challenged the conventional wisdom about health and nutrition by espousing the benefits of a plant-based diet.

To everyone’s surprise, the book, called “The China Study,” has since sold 500,000 copies, making it one of the country’s best-selling nutrition titles. The book focuses on the knowledge gained from the China Study, a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine that showed high consumption of animal-based foods is associated with more chronic disease, while those who ate primarily a plant-based diet were the healthiest."

Vanity Fair, January 2011. "Politics - Deadly Medicine," by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele. Click here for the article. My sister-in-law said I had to read this one. She was right. Disturbing, to say the least. I've passed it on to some doctor friends to get their opinions--is this truth, or just an over-exaggerated scary story to sell magazines?

I would love to hear what Dr. Steve Nissen has to say about it. But, this much I do know--if the piece is true, the only way it could have been written was because of the courage of those insiders who chose to do the right thing--and speak out. Truth or lie? Or a bit of both?

"Prescription drugs kill some 200,000 Americans every year. Will that number go up, now that more clinical trials are conducted overseas—on sick Russians, homeless Poles, and slum-dwelling Chinese—in places where regulation is virtually nonexistent, the F.D.A. doesn’t reach, and “mistakes” can end up in pauper’s graves? The authors investigate the globalization of the pharmaceutical industry, and the U.S. Government’s failure to rein in a lethal profit machine."

"Overall, deaths from F.D.A.-approved prescription drugs dwarf the number of people who die from street drugs such as cocaine and heroin. They dwarf the number who die every year in automobile accidents. So far, these deaths have triggered no medical crusades, no tough new regulations. After a dozen or so deaths linked to runaway Toyotas, Japanese executives were summoned to appear before lawmakers in Washington and were subjected to an onslaught of humiliating publicity. When the pharmaceutical industry meets with lawmakers, it is mainly to provide campaign contributions.

And with more and more of its activities moving overseas, the industry’s behavior will become more impenetrable, and more dangerous, than ever."

NPR's Living on Earth, "Sex and Endocrine Disruptors," by Ashley Ahearn, January 7, 2011.Click here for the story. Meet the physicians & lab researchers who are wondering if the ubiquitous chemicals in our environment may be causing serious changes to the reproductive systems of infant boys--and perhaps even affecting sexual orientation. These changes have been seen in frogs & fish for years--but what about in humans? Researchers in this field now have concerns that common synthetic chemicals might be responsible for feminizing effects, as well as genital birth defects in male children. An abnormality of the male infant genitalia--called hypospadias--is now the second most common birth defect in the country, behind heart defects. Is there a chemical connection?

AHEARN: Talking about problems with reproductive health is something society has never handled well. And perhaps because most hypospadias can be corrected with surgery, very few doctors have raised questions about the underlying causes of this birth defect.

But endocrine disrupting chemicals show up in almost 100 percent of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and many of these chemicals are known to disrupt normal reproductive system development in animals - think back to Tyrone Hayes' frogs here.

So I asked Dr. Theo Colborn, who's been studying endocrine disruptors for over 30 years, if she thought our environmental exposures could be affecting our reproductive health. Or more specifically, given what we're seeing with hypospadias, I asked her, do you think we are feminizing our baby boys?

COLBORN: I definitely do. I think there's a certain percentage that are definitely being affected and there's no denying it.

Manson is the principal investigator in the upcoming VITAL Trial, which is set to follow 20,000 healthy older men & women for 5 years--testing the health effects of daily taking 2000 IUs of vitamin D3 & 1 gram of marine omega-3 against that of placebos. Manson also took part in the Institute of Medicine's recent revision of the guidelines for vitamin D. She's an outspoken physician/researcher who carefully sifts through study minutiae before she comes to any conclusions. If you want an excellent, balanced, and thorough explanation of the vitamin D research, read this article. For more on the VITAL STUDY, click here.

"Although vitamin D supplementation appears to be a promising intervention for reducing risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases, existing evidence on its benefits and risks is limited and inconclusive. Recruitment is now under way for the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL), the first large-scale randomized clinical trial of these nutritional agents for the primary prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

3. Some observational studies indicate there may be a threshold for vitamin D intake above which there is no increase in benefit and which may increase risk.

4. The VITAL trial is currently randomizing 20,000 healthy older men and women throughout the United States to receive either 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) per day or placebo, as well as 1 g of marine omega-3 fatty acids per day or placebo, for 5 years."

The Movies - Ordinary People with the Courage to Change Themselves and Sometimes the World

Made in Denhagen

The remarkable, funny, and inspiring true story of women fighting for equal pay in a Ford Motor Company in 1968 England. Rita O'Grady is the woman of courage in this film. Click here to read more. I loved it!

The Fighter

A combination biopicture and dramedy that has us rooting for a working-class hero as he struggles to find his style in the ring and outside the ring within his dysfunctional family. Dickie Eklund and his half brother, Mickey Ward are the men with a more personal kind of courage in this film--the courage to change the direction of their lives and to stand up for themselves. Click here to read more. I loved it!

The King's Speech

An enthralling and heart-stirring biodrama about an unusual friendship that transforms the life and soul of King George VI of England. England's about to go to war against Germany, they're in the middle of the Depression, and the country is feeling anxious & dispirited. In the midst of this uncertainty, Prince Edward cavalierly gives up his claim to the throne, leaving his brother, Prince Albert, with no choice but to become King of England. Against all odds Prince Albert has the courage to accept the position--overcome a severe stutter--and take a key role in uniting and lifting up the spirits of his countrymen. Click here to read more. I loved it!

Forks Over Knives

This documentary film tells the story of the courage of Dr. T. Colin Campbell & Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Both have stood steadfast in their position that our Western diet is hazardous to our health--and that many of our present day chronic diseases are "nothing more than food-borne illnesses" that could be cured if only we'd change our diets.

Campbell & Esselstyn are both in their mid-seventies, and they are no longer beholden to any academic, medical, or governmental institutions--nor are they concerned about damaging their reputations--they are free to speak the truth. They aren't motivated by financial gain, or fame. They are unassuming, approachable, and motivated only by wanting to share what they have learned. They don't have to do this!

I've seen the film--and can say without a doubt, it's a must-see! It officially opens nationally in March 2011, but there have been previews all over the country. For an updated list of previews in your area, click here.

To read my summary of the film, "The Research-Based Documentary That Will Change the Way You Eat. "Forks Over Knives" The Story of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's China Study & Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's Heart Disease Reversal Study. Getting Your Health Back on a Plant-Based Whole Foods Diet," click here.

For links to some top thought-provoking movies for grown-ups--those currently playing--and the best films of 2010--click here.

This recipe is based on one I found in Mark Bittman's, The Food Matters Cook Book. Bittman's a long-time food writer for the New York Times--and he's taken some courageous steps as a food writer in recent years. For a guy who make his living from food--writing, cooking and eating--Bittman risked a lot when he make a 180 degree change in his own eating habits.

"I've been eating like Food Matters--the title of this book's predecessor, a book that encourages us to concentrate on eating more plants and few animal products and processed foods--for three years. If you swap the basic proportions in your diet--increasing unprocessed fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains--you'll wind up losing weight and improving your overall health while also improving more difficult-to-measure situations like global warming, the environment in general, and animal welfare." Mark Bittman

Miso Soup with Bok Choy, Soba Noodles, and Tofu (or salmon) click here for a copy of the recipe on one page

2. Prep the tofu. Drain the water from the package, and cut the block into thirds, horizontally. Wrap the three slices in a tea towel & put a heavy pot or weight on top of it to press. After 30 minutes, cut each slice into 4 triangles, & spread one side with the sauce of your choice.

3. Add the soba noodles to the boiling water and cook until tender but not mushy, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid, and rinse the noodles with lots of cold water until cool.

4. Put 4 cups of vegetable broth into the pot, along with the 2 cups of reserved "noodle liquid", and set it to boil again--you'll have 6 cups of liquid.

5. Heat up a stove-top grill pan on high, and when it's hot, add the tofu triangles, sauce side down. Spread top of tofu with sauce. Watch carefully--it doesn't take too long for the tofu to nicely brown (as shown). Flip when the tofu is browned with grill marks. If using salmon, sprinkle with seasoning & either pan-fry without oil, or grill it. Tofu won't stink or smoke up your kitchen! Trust me on this one.

6. When the water in the pot is almost boiling, put the miso in a small bowl, ladle in a cup or so of the heated broth, and whisk it until it's smooth.

7. When the broth is boiling, add the bok choy stems to the pot and let them cook for about a minute. Add the bok choy "ribbons" and continue cooking, adjusting the heat so the soup bubbles steadily, until the bok choy gets silky, 3 to 5 minutes more.

8. Turn the heat down to low, pour the miso mixture into the pot along with the soba noodles, and heat just long enough to warm everything, only a minute or two. Taste, adjust the seasoning.

9. Serve the soup immediately, topping with 3 tofu triangles each (or 1/4 of the salmon), and sprinkle with sesame seeds, and scallions.

"I'm telling every pregnant mother I see to to take 4000 IUs and every nursing mother to take 6,400 IUs of Vitamin D.

I
think it is medical malpractice for obstetricians not to know what the
Vitamin D level of their patients is. This study will put them on
notice."

-Dr. Bruce W. Hollis, Professor of
Pediatrics and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director of
Pediatric Nutritional Sciences at the Medical University of South
Carolina in Charleston, SC-

If you've received this post via email, click here to get to the web-version with all the active links.

In December 2009 I wrote about the results of Drs. Bruce Hollis' & Carole Wagner's "practice guideline-changing" research on the importance of Vitamin D in pregnancy. Click here for the whole story.

Well, the "latest news" is that Dr. Carole Wagner just presented these results to the Pediatric Academic Society's meeting on May 1-4, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. The PAS meeting is sponsored by four top pediatric medical societies, so this is an important step in getting the vitamin D/pregnancy news out there.

The Results of Drs. Hollis & Wagner's Vitamin D & Pregnancy Research

The take-home message is that pregnant women should take 4,000
International Units a day, according to Carol Wagner, MD, of the
Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Women taking the 4000 IUs increased their vitamin D level by about 50%--to a normal level of 40 ng/mL.

Premature births and premature labor were reduced by 50% at both 32 and 37 weeks in those taking the highest levels.

Fewer
babies were born "small for dates"--which means smaller than expected
for the time spent in the womb. This is a little-known pregnancy
complication of taking inadequate amounts of vitamin D.

Women
in the 2000 & 4000 IU groups reduced their number of infections
throughout pregnancy by 50%: including respiratory infections, like
colds and flu, as well as fewer vaginal and periodontal (gum)
infections.

The
common complications of pregnancy like gestational diabetes, increased
blood pressure, and pre-eclampsia were reduced by 30%.

The babies born to moms getting the highest vitamin D levels had fewer colds and less eczema.

Vitamin is not really a vitamin--it's a pre-hormone. Wagner says women who are deficient in vitamin D have a HORMONE deficiency--not a vitamin deficiency.

Hollis & Wagner's study found that this dose--which is significantly higher than the typical prenatal vitamin dose of 400 IUs of vitamin D is completely safe.

I sure wish my generation had known about this vitamin D news way back when we were having babies!

So..listen up young moms--not only should you increase your intake of vitamin D for your baby's benefit, but keep on taking it to prevent any of the future pelvic floor issues that childbirth is known bring our way.

According to a study published in the April 2010 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology 115(4):795-803, "Vitamin D and Pelvic Floor Disorders in Women", higher vitamin D levels are linked to a lower risk of pelvic floor disorders. About 1 in 4 women are "blessed" with:

Urinary incontinence

Pelvic organ prolapse

Fecal incontinence

According to Dr. Samuel S. Badalian, the lead author,"Because vitamin D receptors are present in human muscle tissue, a direct effect of vitamin D on muscle physiology is biologically plausible. Thus, it is not surprising that vitamin D deficiency has long been clinically associated with impaired muscle strength and loss of mass.

Given that vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is epidemic among adults, it is plausible that low vitamin D status contributes to the development of poor muscle strength and can lead to different pelvic floor disorders such as urinary/fecal incontinence and POP (pelvic organ prolapse)."

Bottom Line: Higher vitamin D levels were associated with a decreased risk of any pelvic floor disorder in women 20 years and older. The strongest association was with urinary incontinence--and it was significantly reduced in women 50 and older with vitamin D levels of 30 ng/mL or higher. The authors suggest that treating vitamin D insufficiency could improve pelvic muscle strength, and possibly reduce common disorders, such as urinary incontinence. Poise bladder control products should take note of their new competition!

This article was based on data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination survey of 3,440 women. 1,881 women fit the study parameters.

Adequate Vitamin D May Cut Breast Cancer Risk

This latest article was published ahead of print on April 14, 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."Vitamin D and calcium intakes and breast cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal women." Anderson, Laura N. et al. Thanks to super librarian colleague Mary Pat for emailing this article to me.

Unfortunately, this Canadian study based on 3,101 breast cancer patients and 3,471 healthy controls doesn't provide us with much new information when it comes to vitamin D and breast cancer.

Here's how the study was set up: the researchers used a one-time questionnaire to collect data on how often participants ate foods that contained vitamin D (like fatty fish or milk), and how often and how long they took vitamin D supplements, multivitamins or calcium supplements.

The results: "The study results do not support an association between vitamin D or calcium from food or total intake (of vitamin D) and breast cancer risk. However, vitamin D intakes were relatively low in this study and supplemental vitamin D intakes greater than 400 IU/day were associated with a reduced breast cancer risk. Based on this study, the authors recommend future studies with higher intakes (Yes!!! Like how about measuring vitamin D blood levels (not supplement intake) and looking at women with levels of 50 ng/mL?-my comment), possibly carried out as a chemoprevention trial."

According to Laura Anderson, one of the authors, "It looks promising for vitamin D."

What about the cancer connection? It seems so far-fetched.Dr.
Hollis has collaborated with Dr. Walter Willett and the Harvard School
of Public Health for over 15 years, studying epidemiologic data on the
effects of vitamin D on cancer. These studies have routinely shown
that an adequate vitamin D status protects against 13 or 14 different
cancers, including breast, prostate, and colon cancer.

Hollis
is skeptical that vitamin D could treat cancer once you get it--its
benefit is in preventing it in the first place--and having adequate
levels will lower your risk. Researchers in Nutrition Reviews
project that a vitamin D blood level over 52 ng/mL would reduce breast
cancer by 50%, and levels over 34 ng/mL would prevent 50% of the colon
cancers.

Here's how it works: Vitamin D helps control cell growth and that's why we think that it
will reduce the risk of many deadly cancers like prostate, breast, and
colon by as much as 50 percent. In its role as a hormone, vitamin D travels all over our body
delivering messages to activate genes and control cell growth.

If
a
cell turns cancerous, vitamin D delivers the instructions for that cell
to self-destruct. Not enough vitamin D and that cancer cell might keep
reproducing. According to Hollis, "vitamin D acts as a brake" when it
comes to cancer. It prevents cells from growing wildly
out-of-control--and this mechanism has been studied for years.

This is not a study I wanted to hear about. I love my morning coffee, and I'm not very interested in giving it up. The good news: The negative effects did not occur with decaf! Keep the coffee taste--ditch the caffeine. I can live with that.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn tipped me off to this just published study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64:483-89, 2010 "Acute effects of coffee on endothelial function in healthy subjects," Buscemi, S. et al. Esselstyn doesn't drink coffee, so he was pretty delighted with the study results.

All 17 of the study subjects were perfectly healthy--in case you're wondering.

The subjects who drank decaf coffee actually showed a significant improvement in their blood vessel dilation (good news to me), and the authors speculate that this might be because of coffee's considerable antioxidant content. Polyphenols present in coffee are know to increase flow-mediated dilation.

But don't despair coffee lovers, even the authors aren't sure if the results of their study will support short or long-term detrimental cardiovascular effects. And the question still remains:

"I'm telling every pregnant mother I see to to take 4000 IUs and every nursing mother to take 6,400 IUs of Vitamin D.

I think it is medical malpractice for obstetricians not to know what the Vitamin D level of their patients is. This study will put them on notice."

-Dr. Bruce W. Hollis, Professor of Pediatrics and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director of Pediatric Nutritional Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC-

If you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or know someone who is pregnant--do them a huge favor and pass this information on to them!

OK, I admit it. I'm a wild and crazy cheerleader for Vitamin D. Anyone who is paying attention knows that unless you are regular sunbather (and who is?), or you're religiously taking a Vitamin D supplement of at least 2000 IUs a day, you are probably woefully deficient in this important hormone--that we all think of as a vitamin.

Why does Vitamin D have such an important influence on our health?

Since the Human Genome Project, we now know that Vitamin D is responsible for regulating over 10% of our genes. It's not just responsible for skeletal health--but cells throughout the entire body are dependent on Vitamin D in order to work properly.

Which is exactly why Dr. Bruce Hollis decided back in 2000 to figure out how much Vitamin D pregnant women and babies optimally need! When it comes to a developing fetus, and a fast growing infant--there is no more important time to make sure that all our cells and systems are getting exactly what they need to work & develop properly.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding is a unique time in development when getting enough Vitamin D has a direct impact on both the mother and baby's bone health, cardiovascular health, immune function and glucose metabolism.

Research continues to mount about its important role in brain development and in preventing brain disorders.

Recent theories (Harvard scientists publishing in Jan. 2010 in Medical Hypotheses) speculate that Vitamin D deficiency might be linked to autism--and adequate supplementation might have a role in preventing it.

So, when I heard about the exciting results of Dr. Hollis' just completed NIH Study on the Evaluation of Vitamin D Requirements During Pregnancy, I couldn't wait to blog about it.

Drs. Bruce W. Hollis and Carol Wagner just presented their study results at the 14th International Workshop on Vitamin D, in Bruges, Belgium--and I'm doing my part to get the word out.

It will probably take years before the academic pediatric and obstetric associations modify their recommendations to reflect the study's high level of supplementation. In fact, before beginning this study, Dr. Hollis had to first get FDA approval in order to use 4000 IUs of Vitamin D as an "investigational drug". In November Hollis sent his findings to the pediatric academic associations--so we'll have to wait & see if their Vitamin D guidelines are changed as a result.

Just so you know--Dr. Hollis is one of the world's leading authorities on Vitamin D--with a keen interest in making sure pregnant woman and infants get a "full supply" of this critical vitamin.

Here's What You Need to Know About Hollis' Vitamin D in Pregnancy Study

600 pregnancy women were enrolled from January 2004-December 2008--including African Americans, Hispanics, and whites. Because dark pigmented skin prevents adequate absorption of Vitamin D from sunlight--it was important to include multiple races in this study. For the details of the study proposal click here.

Vitamin D supplementation began at 12 weeks and continued until the end of the pregnancy. The control group took the usual standard recommendation of 400 IUs; one group took 2000 IUs of Vitamin D; one group took 4000 IUs of Vitamin D--which is 10 times the recommended amount.

How Did Increased Vitamin D Benefit the Moms & Babies?

Women taking the 4000 IUs increased their vitamin D level by about 50%--to a normal level of 40 ng/mL.

Premature births and premature labor were reduced by 50% at both 32 and 37 weeks in those taking the highest levels.

Fewer babies were born "small for dates"--which means smaller than expected for the time spent in the womb. This is a little-known pregnancy complication of taking inadequate amounts of vitamin D.

Women in the 2000 & 4000 IU groups reduced their number of infections throughout pregnancy by 50%: including respiratory infections, like colds and flu, as well as fewer vaginal and periodontal (gum) infections.

The common complications of pregnancy like gestational diabetes, increased blood pressure, and pre-eclampsia were reduced by 30%.

The babies born to moms getting the highest vitamin D levels had fewer colds and less eczema.

The Infection Connection and Vitamin D

The 50% drop in maternal infections for moms receiving 4000 IUs of Vitamin D did not surprise Hollis at all. Vitamin D is in charge of firing up our "Rapid Response" immune function. When we get enough Vitamin D--it works optimally--quickly nipping infections in the bud.

According to Dr. Michael Holick, moms who got adequate Vitamin D during pregnancy reduced the risk of wheezing disorders in their children by 61%.

Dr. Michael Holick's Two Cents on the Benefits of Vitamin D During Pregnancy

A Boston study looked at 40 mother-infant pairs--the moms took the recommended 400 IU/day Vitamin D in their prenatal vitamin and drank 2.3 glasses of milk a day--at birth, 76% of moms were Vitamin D deficient--81% of newborns were deficient. Exactly what Dr. Hollis found out in his study.

Higher Vitamin D levels decreased the likelihood of preeclampsia, and reduced the need for C-sections. Exactly what Dr. Hollis found out in his study.

Breast-feeding moms need to be vigilant that their babies are getting enough Vitamin D. The breast milk of moms who are not getting enough Vitamin D has a paltry 25 IUs of Vitamin D per liter (1 quart, 2 ounces). Not even close to the 400 IUs their babies need. It would take 4000-6400 IUs/a day for a breast-feeding mom to get enough Vitamin D into her breast milk to meet the baby's requirement of 400 IUs a day. But according to Holick, until more studies are done, "it's not something we're recommending." Hopefully, we'll be able to in the near future." In the meantime--breast-feeding moms need to make sure their babies are getting 400 IUs/a day of a Vitamin D supplement.

Drs. Bruce Hollis & Carol Wagner on the Importance of 6400 IUs of Vitamin for Breastfeeding

Infants exclusively breastfed, without sun exposure or supplementation have an increased risk of developing Vitamin D deficiency, unless their moms have more than adequate supplies of Vitamin D.

Darkly pigmented infants--living in Northern latitudes--are more at risk because dark skin only absorbs 50% of the sun's Vitamin D.

Recent studies show that in order for the Vitamin D in a mom's milk to reach adequate levels--mom's need to supplement to a level of 4000-6400 IUs of Vitamin D.

Drs. Hollis & Wagner are currently conducting a NIH trial on the effect of High Vitamin D on breastfeeding moms & their babies. The results of their pilot trials were shocking. Only the infants whose mothers supplemented at the highest level--6400 IUs--had Vitamin D levels equivalent to those of infants who received 300 IUs/day of Vitamin D drops.

Hollis & Wagner strongly advocate for moms to supplement at high levels, rather than relying on infant supplement drops. Why? Because it is the only way to insure that both the mother & baby are adequately supplied.

When five Harvard researchers publish a hypothesis--it's worth reading. And they are not the first to speculate about this connection.

For an easy-to-understand version of this theory, click here to read: "What If Vitamin D Deficiency Is A Cause of Autism? A few researchers are turning their attention to the sunshine vitamin as a culprit, prompted by the experience of immigrants that have moved from their equatorial country to two northern latitude locations.Scientific American News. April 24, 2009.

In a nutshell here's how the dots are being connected with Vitamin D & autism:

A number of De Novo (meaning, "new" not copied from the parents) genetic mutations are risk factors for autism.

The Harvard researchers theorize that environmental & urban chemicals like mercury, cadmium, nickel, trichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride might trigger the genetic mutations responsible for autism. It turns out that children from areas exposed to higher levels of these contaminants have significantly higher rates of autism than children living in areas of low exposure.

Vitamin D plays a tremendous role in repairing DNA damage--and protecting against oxidative stress--which is a key cause of DNA damage.

Here's the vitamin D connection: Higher rates of autism exist in areas where there is less sun, in areas of higher precipitation (lots of rain)--where people spend more time indoors, and where Vitamin deficiency is highest.

The Centers for Disease Control found higher rates of autism for children living in northern latitudes (less sun) compared to those living in southern states.

Recent reports surfaced about the high incidence of autism found in the children of new Somali immigrants (dark-skinned Africans) who moved to northern latitude cities in Minnesota and Sweden. In Minnesota, these rates are 2 to 7 times greater than the rates for non-Somalis.

Autism was unheard of in these families when they lived in Africa--and only surfaced after moving to Minnesota and Sweden. Dark skin makes Vitamin D absorption extremely difficult at northern latitudes--added to which many of these Somalis are Muslim, and the women are wearing burkas.

The Harvard researchers cite the work of Cannell, Chatterjee, and Bao that demonstrates how adequate Vitamin D has the ability not only to prevent genetic damage, but to repair damage that has occurred.

They recommend that we begin controlled clinical trials of Vitamin D supplementation for adults living in areas where Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent (U.S. & northern Europe)--who are planning to conceive children in a few years. In other words--if you are considering having a baby any time soon--prevent potential problems now--start supplementing with Vitamin D.

For another perspective on the Vitamin D/autism connection, read Dr. John Cannell's (one of the originators of the theory) review of the Medical Hypotheses article. Click here.

Coming Next Week:

More on what Dr. Bruce Hollis has to say about the importance of Vitamin D for adults--how it affects autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, bone pain and heart disease.

In the meantime, how much vitamin D does Dr. Hollis take? He's an international expert on Vitamin D who lives in sunny Charleston, SC.

4000 IUs a day. This consistently gets his blood levels up to around 60 ng/mL. After years of study he has never seen any adverse effects with higher doses of Vitamin D, as long as the level does not exceed 10,000 IUs/day.

He strongly believes that sufficient levels of Vitamin D are what we would naturally have if we could be fully sun-exposed--and he's found this level to fall somewhere between 50 ng/mL to 70 or 80 ng/mL. Current recommendations now put the normal level anywhere over 30 ng/mL. Do yourself a favor and get your vitamin D level tested.

When it comes to good health, I pay very close attention to how the experts are taking care of themselves.

Dr. Michael Holick, the 62 year old Professor of Medicine, Physiology, and Biophysics at Boston University's Medical Center is probably THE world expert on Vitamin D & health--he's been studying Vitamin D for over 35 years. When Holick talks--I'm listening!

What's his personal prescription for getting enough of this liquid gold?

1. 2000 IUs of vitamin D a day.

2. 3 glasses of milk a day = 300 IUs of Vitamin D

3. 400 IUs in his daily multivitamin

4. Between supplements & milk he's getting 2700 IUs a day

5. He plays tennis & cycles outside in his free time. He always wears sunscreen on his face--but leaves his arms & legs exposed--but he lives in Boston. Sensible sun exposure on your arms & legs is the BEST way to build up your Vitamin D stores--10 minutes a day if you are fair-skinned, between the hours of 10-3, with sunscreen on your face, for 2-3 times a week. That ought to do it!

6. What's his 25-hydroxyvitamin D level? He's consistently in the 50-60 ng/mL range. Just where you'd want to be to get all the health benefits of D. 30 ng/mL is the minimum and you can go all the way up to 100 & still be on the very safe side.

So, why am I writing about Vitamin D again? There's just so much to say about it! And besides, it's closing in on November--which means if you live north of Atlanta, Georgia there is no way you can get any vitamin D from the sun. It's too high in the sky & the angle is too oblique. By the end of the winter--if you aren't taking a Vitamin D supplement you are going to be deficient! Not a good thing.

You can stand stark-naked on top of a building in Boston all day in February and get zippo Vitamin D! So take that supplement & get some Real Sun in the summer!

Why Should I Care If I'm Sufficient or Deficient in Vitamin D?

I know, it sounds like snake-oil. How can Vitamin D possibly have an effect on so many chronic diseases and conditions?

Simple--every cell and tissue in the body has a Vitamin D receptor--and all of them depend upon D for optimal health. Here's just a sampling of the bad things that can happen if you aren't getting enough.

Why Are So Many of Us Vitamin D Deficient & What Gets in the Way of Absorbing Adequate Vitamin D?

We're Indoors & Wear Sunscreen. We spend most of our time indoors & when we're outside we're slathered in sunscreen, or mostly covered up with clothes. Dermatologists have been telling us to wear sunscreen & avoid the sun for almost 40 years. An SPF 15 reduces Vitamin D absorption by 95-99%

No Mid-day Sun. To get adequate Vitamin D from the sun you would have to be exposed to the sun in the peak hours of 10 am to 3 pm.

It's a Vitamin D Deficiency Epidemic! Vitamin D deficiency (a level under 30 ng/mL) is epidemic in adults over 50 (over 70% of us); 50% of children are deficient; 42% of young adults are deficient; and Vitamin D deficiency even exists in California, Florida, Arizona, and Saudi Arabia. Personally, I don't know a single friend who wasn't deficient when they were first tested.

It's an Age Thing. Age decreases the ability of the skin to make Vitamin D. A 20 year old makes 3 times more Vitamin D than a 70 year old.

Dark Skin Color. African-Americans need to be out in the sun 5-10 times longer to get enough Vitamin D. They are walking around with a natural SPF of 15. Many researchers believe that the excessively low levels of D in African Americans may be responsible for their higher rates of prostate cancer, hypertension, and diabetes. For an interesting story of skin color & Vitamin D click here

Obesity. The more you weigh, the less Vitamin D is getting into your blood stream. Obese people can only utilize 50% of their Vitamin D--because it ends up in their body fat & can't get into their blood stream. They need to get 2-3 times as much Vitamin D from the sun or supplements to bring their levels up to normal.

How Do I Find Out What My Level of Vitamin D Is?

Ask your doctor to order a simple, low cost 25-hydroxyvitamin D test for you. It's the only way to know what your baseline is. Then follow-up a few months later if you are deficient.

For optimal health aim for Dr. Holick's goal of 50 ng/mL. Absolutely get yourself up to 30 ng/mL. You're safe up to 100 ng/ML. And it's impossible to get too much Vitamin D from the sun--the body will regulate it. With supplements you would have to take over 10,000 IUs/a day, for six months to have Vitamin D intoxication. Lifeguards wearing no sunscreen have been tested--they have super-high levels, and no intoxication.

Every 100 IUs of Vitamin D you take, you can figure it will raise your Vitamin D level by 1 point, assuming you are not obese--which necessitates increasing the level by 50% or more.

For those who are very low in Vitamin D, under physician guidance, you may need to take 50,000 IUs of Vitamin D2 (yes, D2--is now confirmed to be just as good as D3) once a week for 8 weeks, then 50,000 IUs every 2 weeks "forever" after, according to Holick.

How Much Vitamin D Can I Get Naturally From the Sun? What's Safe?

You can get your Vitamin D from the sun, from April-September if you live north of Atlanta, Georgia, and it is the best source of Vitamin D.

If you are sunbathing mid-day on Cape Cod in the summer, wearing a bathing suit, without sunscreen, and you have fair skin, you will get 10,000-20,000 IUs of Vitamin D in just 15 minutes of exposure. Do that 2-3 times a week and you'll build up a healthy storehouse.

The body is able to store the Vitamin D it gets from the sun far longer than it can store the Vitamin D it gets from supplements.

Mother Nature has designed the body to store the Vitamin D we get from the sun in our body fat, and release it when we aren't "making" any more.

Our Vitamin D levels peak in the summer--but in you are barely Vitamin D sufficient at the end of the summer (a level of 30 ng/mL) you will deplete those stores in one month. By the end of the winter, you will be severely Vitamin D deficient, unless you are taking a supplement.

Sensible sun exposure. Here's what Dr. Holick advocates. 10-15 minutes of exposure on arms & legs in the peak sun hours of 10 am - 3 pm, two or three times a week. Use a sunscreen on your face, and after 10-15 minutes get out of the sun or slather up. Overexposure can increase non-melanoma skin cancer. 10-15 minutes is not overexposure.

To get exact guidance on how long you would need to stay in the sun to get enough Vitamin D, based on where you live, your skin type, the time of day, & the time of year--take a look at Dr. Holick's book, The UV Advantage, or try Dr. James Dowd's online sun exposure calculator.

Vitamin D from the sun & depression. Although Vitamin D is known to lessen depression and boost the mood--unfortunately, only the natural kind from the sun has this effect.

What About Skin Cancer? I Thought It Was Risky to Be Out in the Sun Without Sunscreen?

The American Academy of Dermatologists is still not recommending that we go out in the sun without sunscreen for any amount of time. They are recommending we take supplements and eat fish. But remember, Dr. Holick is only recommending short sun exposure with the face protected by sunscreen, and the truth of it is--melanoma, the most dangerous of skin cancers, is usually found in the unexposed parts of the body that never see sunlight.

Interestingly, occupational sun exposure decreases the risk of malignant melanoma and lifetime sun exposure is associated with a lower risk for malignant melanoma.

The Dermatological & Cancer Societies of Australia have recently changed their position on sun exposure. Now that studies have shown that 30-50% of Australian's are Vitamin D deficient because the sunscreen campaigns have been so successful, the Aussies are rethinking "their sunscreen message". Their new message: Get sensible sun exposure. Enough to get adequate Vitamin D, not too much to increase cancer.

Any Special Recommendations for Pregnant Women & Infants?

A Boston study looked at 40 mother-infant pairs--the moms took the recommended 400 IU/day Vitamin D in their prenatal vitamin and drank 2.3 glasses of milk a day--at birth, 76% of moms were Vitamin D deficient--81% of newborns were deficient.

All pregnant women need get 1000 IUs a day in addition to the Vitamin D in their prenatal vitamin, and an additional 200 IUs from their diet, according to Holick.

Higher Vitamin D levels decreased the likelihood of preeclampsia, and reduced the need for C-sections.

Moms who got adequate Vitamin D during pregnancy reduced the risk of wheezing disorders in their children by 61%.

Breast-feeding moms need to be vigilant that their babies are getting enough Vitamin D. The breast milk of moms who are not getting enough Vitamin D has a paltry 25 IUs of Vitamin D per liter (1 quart, 2 ounces). Not even close to the 400 IUs their babies need. It would take 4000-6400 IUs/a day for a breast-feeding mom to get enough Vitamin D into her breast milk to meet the baby's requirement of 400 IUs a day. But according to Holick, until more studies are done, "it's not something we're recommending." Hopefully, we'll be able to in the near future." In the meantime--breast-feeding moms need to make sure their babies are getting 400 IUs/a day of a Vitamin D supplement.

What Kind of Supplementation Does Dr. Holick Recommend?

1000-1500 IUs/a day for most children

1500-2000 IUs/a day for adults

All pregnant women need get 1000 IUs a day in addition to the Vitamin D
in their prenatal vitamin, and an additional 200 IUs from their diet.

The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends 400 IUs/a day for infants.

In August 2009 Dr. Holick participated in an Expert Panel convened by the Institute of Medicine to work on new recommendations for Vitamin D--in light of all the research that has come out recently. Expect new standards sometime around the Spring of 2010.

I try hard, but rarely succeed in taking 2000 IUs of D a day, plus about 400 IUs from Citracal calcium supplements, and maybe an additional 400 IUs from an occasional multivitamin or from fortified food. I'm not often out in the mid-day sun--but when I am, don't tell anyone--I'm not wearing sunscreen.

I haven't been retested in over 2 years, when it was 33 ng/mL at the end of winter. I plan to retest in January 2010.